This is the book that never ends

I've been reading CHARACTERS & VIEWPOINT by Orson Scott Card. The part that's really helped me figure out what's wrong with my first novel is on story type. There are four types of story, summarized by MICE: Milieu (setting), Idea, Character, and Event.

"Within the first few paragraphs or pages, you tell the reader implicitly what kind of story this is going to be; the reader then knows what to expect, and holds the thread of that structure throughout the tale."

My story is apparently a Character type story, but the opening doesn't reflect that. My first version opened with a dream, which would reflect an Event story. Currently, it opens with describing the setting, culture. That's more fitting of a Milieu structure. I'm starting in the wrong place for this type of story. I need to start where Marian realizes her world has changed and she no longer belongs where she’s been. Her moment of change, not anything that has to do with the Enchanter/Fey conflict.

Cutting most of the first three chapters would also help with the problem I got with my last rejection: the opening is too slow. It will also get Marian meeting Jex sooner. Win-win. When my husband offered to read through my story again, I had no idea if I even WANTED to look at it again, let alone have a clue how to revise it. I was so sick of my story, I was ready to not just shelve it but burn it and bury the ashes. But now that I have ideas to fix it, it’s interesting again. Will I ever be done with this story??

Nerdgasm

Major revisions are out of the way for Fey Moon. Where do I go from here?

 

This Week:

I’m going to go over the first scene again, using feedback from the latest Secret Agent contest. Then I’ll polish my query, update my outline and synopsis.

 

October:

Submit a batch of queries for FM before The Muse Online Writers Conference, where I’ll be pitching to a publisher.

With those edits out of the way, I can return to writing Trinity Coven. Don’t want to make a solid word count or chapter goal, as I will be attending the aforementioned conference.

 

November:

NaNoWriMo! Honestly, with TC still in progress, and not “winning” last year, I was leaning towards not participating this year. What changed my mind? Scrivener. When I first heard about this writing software, I got super excited. I love lists and having everything organized. I have dozens of documents filled with characters, world info, drafts. All for one manuscript. I would love a way to keep all that managed. Bad news? It’s only been for Mac. Better news? In Jan/Feb 2011 it’s coming out for Windows! How do I justify to my husband that I must have this software?

Anyone who participates in NaNoWriMo this year and achieves their 50,000 words (and has them validated) will get a 50% discount coupon which they will be able to use when Scrivener for Windows is released next year. (source)

I think I had a writer-nerdgasm while watching the preview video. So. NaNoWriMo 2010. I’m in. Are you?

Project Update

I’ve been making good progress on my revisions. I’m feeling really good about the changes so far. As of this morning, 100 pages to go. I came up with a new title that I really like: Fey Moon. I took it from the world’s calendar. Another reason I’m excited about the new title, is that it opens up title ideas for future books in the same series. Each taken from one of the Moons (months). I already have ideas for Spider Moon (tentative title was already Moon Spider), and Blood Moon (War of the Fey). With fourteen Moons, I have lots of inspiration. :-)

Now, back to revisions. I want to get this done so I can reward myself with some Red Vines and Civilization V.